Greg Abel will take over as CEO and President of Berkshire Hathaway on Jan. 1, 2026, the company’s board confirmed following this weekend’s closely watched shareholder meeting in Omaha, Neb. Warren Buffett, 94, announced his retirement to a stunned crowd of 40,000 investors, capping a 55-year tenure during which he delivered a staggering 5,000,000 percent return. Abel, 62, long considered Buffett’s heir apparent, received the board’s formal endorsement after Buffett publicly declared it was “time” for the leadership transition.
Buffett will remain as chairman and said he has no plans to sell any part of his $160 billion stake in Berkshire Hathaway, making clear that his confidence in Abel is more than symbolic. “The decision to keep every share is an economic decision because I think the prospects of Berkshire will be better under Greg’s management than mine,” Buffett told shareholders on Saturday (May 3).
Abel’s rise to Warren Buffett’s heir apparent
Greg Abel, a Canadian executive born in Edmonton, began his career in the energy sector after studying at the University of Alberta and playing hockey during his youth. His ascent started in 1992 at CalEnergy, a company that would go on to acquire MidAmerican Energy. Abel became CEO of MidAmerican in 2000—the same year Berkshire Hathaway purchased a controlling stake. The company was renamed Berkshire Hathaway Energy in 2014, and Abel now serves as its chair.
In 2018, Abel was appointed to Berkshire Hathaway’s board and named vice chairman overseeing all non-insurance operations. Long viewed as Buffett’s quiet heir apparent, Abel earned the legendary investor’s trust through his stewardship of major subsidiaries including Fruit of the Loom, See’s Candies and Precision Castparts. Buffett has praised Abel’s relentless work ethic and hands-on management style, noting that his chosen successor “works harder than I do.”
Abel’s challenges ahead
Abel’s first major test as CEO will be stewarding Berkshire Hathaway’s staggering $400 billion cash pile—an unprecedented war chest that demands shrewd allocation amid a volatile, high-rate market. While Abel has signaled he’ll follow Buffett’s general playbook, investors are watching closely to see where he diverges. “He would make a huge mistake trying to be Warren Buffett,” Fidelity’s Will Danoff told The Wall Street Journal. “Shareholders want Greg to be the best Greg Abel he can be.”
To say Abel has big shoes to fill is an understatement. Buffett isn’t just the CEO of a former textile firm turned $1.1 trillion conglomerate—he’s a once-in-a-century investor whose decisions have shaped how entire generations think about capital, value and patience. His influence is so vast that Investopedia maintains a short list of favorite Buffett books—none of which he actually wrote. His face is an evergreen fixture in the business section of every Barnes & Noble. Charlie Munger, Buffett’s right-hand man who died at 99 in 2023, holds a similarly revered place in the investing pantheon.
In this context, Abel isn’t just taking over a company—he’s inheriting a legacy. While Buffett never penned a book, he made shareholder letters a master class in business philosophy, and Abel has indicated he plans to carry that torch, continuing the tradition of clear-eyed, long-form missives that blend operational insight with timeless investing wisdom.
